The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Satellite television is increasing in popularity due to the ever-increasing amount of programming as well as the quality of programming. Programming includes standard national (CONUS) broadcasts, local or regional station broadcasts, on-demand content and interactive content. Interactive content is increasing in popularity.
Satellite television broadcast systems typically use several satellites. Each satellite has several transponders that receive signals from the ground and broadcast the signals to users. Each transponder is capable of providing a certain amount of content therethrough. That is, each transponder may provide a certain bit rate therethrough.
As the channels change from different levels or quality of content, such as high definition versus standard definition, the bit rates may change. Also, satellite programming provides occasional programming or channels that are not constantly broadcast. Pay-per-view content, sporting events and interactive television are examples of occasional content that is provided.
Interactive content must be scheduled both in terms of time and bandwidth so that it can be directed to users at a particular time. However, scheduling interactive content may be a cumbersome task. Typically, multiple systems and interactions are required to perform the scheduling.